Defeating Terrorism - Part 4

This is the fourth part of a series that will explore what needs to be done in order to defeat terrorism.

Logistics

Ask any general what will win a war in the long run, and he will state supplies. Sure, guns & soldiers win the battles, but you do need the rounds to fire and food to feed the troops. The recent Israeli and Hezbollah conflict highlighted the fact that supplies and funding of Hezbollah by Iran made this conflict possible. Hezbollah received funding and arms from Iran for years. If Iran had not done this, Hezbollah would have dried up long ago & blown away with the next strong wind.

Here's what needs to happen to reign in or limit terrorists in what they can do:

• Find out where the terrorists keep their money, who is sponsoring the terrorists (nations, individuals, companies, etc.), and freeze their bank accounts.
• If a nation is found to be sponsoring terrorism (funding and/or weapons), then all trade with that country is to cease. Yes, this means that there is a very real possibility that some of our suppliers of crude oil are involved and this would mean higher gasoline prices, but what would you rather have - terrorism in the neighborhood or higher prices at the pump?
• If a company or individual is found to be sponsoring terrorist activities, then their assets should be immediately siezed, and their officers jailed.

But this might not be enough. I read in a magazine (Time or Newsweek) about how al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations are using the drug trade to fund their activities. Of course, this is a cash business and rarely are the funds stashed away in a bank.

Another alternative, although radical, is the concept of total war, which was demonstrated in World War II. This meant that anything that the enemy had that could be used to support their war effort directly or indirectly was a target. Factories, railroads, telephone exchanges, military installations and civilians were all targeted. However, the total war concept cannot be used with the terrorist organizations or countries to cut off these supplies. No, we are far too civilized for that, and unfortunately, very impractical for battling an enemy that does not call any one nation home...

Instead, determine where the terrorists keep their supplies & weapons, and destroy or confiscate these items. Hard to do, yes, impossible, no. But it beats carpet bombing nations wholesale to get rid of caches of weapons and supplies hidden by a few.

Is this simplistic? Yes, it is. Are there complications? You bet!

Complications range from the Useless Nations to our own politicians, special interest groups, and media hampering & sabotaging current efforts to find and stop money, weapons, and supplies from reaching our enemies. Countries in the UN are not all supportive of the war against terrorists, and covertly support them. This means that the UN may not be any help to anyone anytime soon. Our own politicians and their ilk are too much into hating & blaming the current administration and focusing on the upcoming elections to be anywhere near as effective as they should be in protecting the American people.

Since we cannot do much with the UN, do this instead. Let your representative know that they need to earn your vote this election. Let them know of your concerns with finding terrorist money, weapons, and supplies. Have them tell you of their plans to combat this threat to this country, and hold them to their word. This is what our form of government is about - electing people who will get the job done, and holding our elected officials accountable for their actions or inactions on issues that are important to this country.